Only a Beat?
by Glitch32
Summary: Every touch, every embrace, every kiss: his heart skipped a beat each time. This time was different, though...
1. Awakened

Hello, FanFiction community! Long time, no see! ^^ I decided to kick this off by not diving head-first back writing quite yet. That's when this idea entered my head. I was inspired by two songs to write this fic, but I'm going to save them until it's through. There will be a total of thirteen chapters, all of which will be roughly between 300-500 words each. So it's somewhat like a series of drabbles, but they all intertwine to connect to each other, and they all lead up to the thirteenth which will probably end up being more like 2,000-3,000 words.

The first five chapter may seem boring or repetitive because they deal with canon stuff and we already know what happened. But after chapter five, we'll be focusing more on my own take on what happened _outside_ of what we know to be certain. All chapters except number six will be based on events that we know for a fact happened at some point in the Avatar canon, and chapter six most likely happened as well, it simply hasn't been confirmed. This may all sound confusing right now but trust me when I say that after chapter five it won't be so repetitive and I won't be writing about stuff that happened in the original series. (No promises that we won't get a flashback of some of the later stuff in Korra! XD)

Once again, all these _are_ drabbles and therefore are gonna be pretty short. But they all go together in a big clump. One will follow the other and they'll build on each other. I also would really love and appreciate reviews. They're what keeps me going and keeps me writing. ;] Thanks to everyone for reading and I look forward to writing the next twelve chapters!

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Darkness. Unending, eternal darkness for an entire century... broken suddenly by the most immense light he had ever witnessed. He couldn't feel anything. Light was entering his eyes and yet everything was blurry shades of gray. Then... feeling. Some sort of unfamiliar feeling came over his body; of course, all feeling beforehand had been foreign to him. But this feeling was... cold. Shivering cold. He began to breathe shakily, and was starting to gain the recognition of his limbs once again. Finally, colors began to come back to him. His vision became saturated with white lights, blue hues, and cyan forms of what could have only been ice. His focus adjusted. Then.

Then he saw her. His eyes, which had been only peaking out into the fretful abyss, widened upon the radiant sunshine kneeling over him. It was a stranger, wrapped in a fuzzy parka of blue and white; her skin was a gorgeous shade of brown, a few strands of her hair escaping out of her puffy hood. Her beauty, while bewildering, was eerily familiar at the same time. How did he not recognize her, but still feel like he knew who she was? There was a spiritual connection there that he didn't understand. This graceful teenager was entirely unrecognizable, and yet he loved her. He loved her greatly.

His heart skipped a beat.

He felt his strength slowly building up in his body, part by part of which he was continuing to gain recognition of. He decided to speak.

"I need to ask you something," his first words in so long were. The girl spoke in reply, causing his heart to flutter, which in turn gave him an instant rush of more energy; not enough to get up yet, but his consciousness was certain now. "Please, come closer."

"What is it?" She asked, moving her face slightly nearer to his. This sent a warm feeling throughout his entire body; this time, enough to give him the energy to exert himself.

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?


	2. Restoration

_Ten weeks since the return of the Avatar._

Forgiveness. The sweet consolation of forgiveness was all Aang craved. He had betrayed his friends' trust. His _family's_ trust. Katara and Sokka were the only family he had left in this new world he was still becoming accustomed too; and the thought of losing his family led him to deception.

The previous day, a scout had delivered a message to Aang with the intent to pass it on to his new acquaintance, Bato of the Water Tribe. However, in his panic to keep his friends by his side Aang had hidden the map from Katara and Sokka, because it led to the location where their father and the other warriors of the Southern tribe were setting up camp.

Little did Aang know that when the siblings found out about this hidden fact, they would leave him in angry bitterness. And yet, here they were once again a day later on the back of Appa flying away from the messy fight scene that reunited them.

Confused as to what their reunion meant, Aang investigated. "So... where do we go?"

Katara's comforting voice enlivened Aang's spirits. "We're getting you to the north pole."

"Yeah," echoed Sokka. "We've lost too much time as it it."

Puzzled, Aang continued his inquiry, hopping up Appa's head and putting his hands upon the saddle to make eye contact with the brother and sister. "Don't you want to see your father?"

"Of course we do Aang, but you're our family too. And right now, you need us more." Sokka's assuring words put Aang's mind at ease.

"And we need you." Katara added to the end of Sokka' statement.

Sweet forgiveness. Aang had been in so much turmoil ever since they ran into Bato: feeling betrayed and confused. But he now saw things as they really were: these siblings were not fairweather friends that come and flow with the tide; they were his family, that would stick with him through the hardest of times, and who would forgive him when he made mistakes.

Aang's pulse rose ever-so-slightly as he began to lead the conversation in a different direction.

"I wish I could give you a little piece of home, Katara. Something to remind you..." He half trailed off, half was interrupted by Katara.

"I'll be okay."

"Still!" Aang perked back up, childlike sparkles gleaming in his eyes. "Just a little trinket. Maybe something like... this?" On the last word he pulled out Katara's necklace, her most cherished possession of all. Holding it out towards her, it's beauty blew in the wind, glimmering and shining in the pink hue of the surrounding sky. It was a beautiful piece of artwork: the insignia of the water tribe delicately carved into it, and then coated over in a glossy surface with a tint of blue stained in the protective coating.

"Aang!" Katara exclaimed with joyous shock in her voice. "How'd you get that?"

"Zuko asked me to be sure I got it to you," Aang answered facetiously.

Playing along, Katara flopped her hand halfway over her mouth in sarcastic astonishment. "Oh, that's so sweet of Zuko. Would you give him a kiss for me when you see him?"

Aang's smile was so big his eyes were no longer open. "Sure!" His head was slightly lagging behind all that was going on, trying to grasp the true feelings that had been going through his head; that's when he felt her warm soft lips touch his cheek.

His heart skipped a beat.

She pressed her lips against his cheek, pushing his head slightly to the side due to his unexpectedness. Her enthusiastic sound effects just lightened the mood, and his entire body felt lighter than air. His stomach filled with butterflymoths, and he felt a warmth in his cheeks as a red blush came over him. Her kiss lasted less than half a second, but those few treasured moments were such a delightful haven for him. As Katara pulled away and sat back down in the saddle, Aang opened his eyes and twiddled his thumbs nervously. What else could make this day better?


End file.
